Kentish Town woman’s search for Good Samaritan after bike hit and run left her hip broken
Mario's Café owner Mario Saggese wants to help find the cyclist who broke Deborah Sless's hip. Picture: Polly Hancock - Credit: Archant
A Kentish Town woman, her family, and even her favourite café are trying to find the Good Samaritan who helped her after a speeding cyclist crashed into her and broke her hip.
Deborah Sless, 66, is a psychotherapist who works from her Bartholomew Villas home.
On February 19, she was walking from her home towards Mario’s Café in Kelly Street – where she has been a regular customer for more than a decade.
But at about 8.40am, as she stepped into Prince of Wales Road, she was hit by a cyclist, who then proceeded to verbally abuse her before leaving the scene.
Not realising how badly she was injured, Deborah – with the help of a woman who was on the scene – made her way to the cafe. She refused to go to hospital “because she had to see patients” and made her way home.
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She only sought medical attention later in the day – after she had seen two patients and even driven to Buckinghamshire to be close to her husband and daughter.
Her daughter Georgina Bowker Heighes said: “She’s doing amazingly. She’s up and about. Unfortunately she’s completely unable to work as she can’t get back to London to see patients.
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“She had a really severely broken hip – the actual ball socket was broken off.”
The family would like the man who hit her to come forward, but also want to thank the woman who helped Deborah.
Georgina added: “We would just like to thank her for being the kind of decent human being that we know Kentish Town is full of.”
Mario Saggese, who runs Mario’s Cafe, told the Ham&High he was hoping to help the family find the woman.
He said: “She’s been coming here 10 to 15 years.
“She’s a lovely woman – we’ve put some posters up to try and help her family.
“A woman helped her into the cafe the day it happened, but I’d never seen her before.
“Deborah was so determined to go home and see her patients, I told her to go to A&E but she wasn’t having it.”
The police confirmed the Met’s traffic unit was investigating the incident.
Do you know the woman who helped Deborah on February 19? Get in touch with Sam on the newsdesk on 020 7433 0120 or sam.volpe@archant.co.uk. Readers can contact the family directly using justice4debs@gmail.com. To help the police with their enquiries, call 101.